


Bad Dreams and Purrs

by Pok Chookity (Pok_Chookity)



Series: Bad Dreams and Purrs [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:01:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26101579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pok_Chookity/pseuds/Pok%20Chookity
Summary: Catra’s nightmares may never go away. But she will always have Adora.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: Bad Dreams and Purrs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2003980
Comments: 10
Kudos: 121





	Bad Dreams and Purrs

Adora wakes up to the sound of heavy breathing. She was dreaming it was a good kind of heavy breathing just before she started blinking away the drowsiness. But when her eyes focus on Catra she immediately knows that it is not.

Catra’s breath is firing out shallow and rapidly, her whole body is tense in her sleep and her jaw is clenched, an outstretched arm pushes out and claws dig into the sheets.

“Kitty…” Adora reaches for her, tentatively placing her hand on top of hers. She doesn’t move closer despite wanting to, knowing not to make Catra feel trapped when she wakes.

She has mapped Catra’s nightmares well. The ones about getting chipped are easier to deal with. Catra would wake up, making meek and heartbreaking mewls she’d never consciously admit having made. She’d seek cuddles immediately, finding the spot at the crook of Adora’s neck to tuck in with her nose, and would stay there while being hugged and petted until she’d relax enough to be able to start purring and eventually go back to sleep.

And then there’s this. Somewhere, someplace a part of Catra’s mind still holds an imprint of the state it was in when she opened the Portal – tipped over the edge by confrontation with Shadow Weaver, refusing to let her win, to take away the proof she was wrong to treat her as worthless. Refusing to let her abandon her for Adora yet again, blaming Adora because of her, unable to cope with so much hurt and anger, too shuttered and unhinged to even see straight.

It hurt so much to see her like that. To be accused by the fractured image of Catra’s madness in that warped freakish reality. She could no longer take it, refusing to feel responsible for what Catra did. She couldn’t understand it. Didn’t know they both needed to reach a breaking point to be able to choose to become someone other than who they were set up to be. But she never stopped trying to anyway. No matter how far down she tried to push it, to tell herself she should treat Catra as an enemy, it was still there, brewing at the back of her mind, and by the time defecting Scorpia mentioned Shadow Weaver, things were slowly beginning to make sense.

And now it comes back. When Catra, her Catra isn’t looking, her sleeping mind sometimes stumbles on that secluded dark corner, touching that imprint, making her relieve it in tormenting nightmares.

First time it happened Catra shot one dazed look at her worried expression and slid out of the bed muttering ‘Not right now.’ She disappeared for over an hour, making her worry. And even after she allowed herself to be found - by leaving the tip of her tail peeking out from behind a counter at Brightmoon’s kitchens - she spent the following day being quiet and withdrawn, only finally smiling at some silly thing Bow said to Glimmer.

This was getting rarer now. And Catra no longer bolted.

Adora squeezes her hand, gentle but firm. The mismatched eyes shoot open, focusing on her. They widen in recognition and Catra starts pushing backwards, terrified.

“Hey, hey, it’s me…” Adora gives a small smile, trying to reassure her. “You’re here, now.”

Catra stills. She lets out a breath, finally registering the reality, then slowly rolls onto her back.

“Uuuuuuuuurghhhh…” she lets out her frustration to the ceiling, her eyes squeezed shut and face grimacing as if she is trying to purge the images out from her mind.

But she doesn’t withdraw her hand.

“It’s alright.” Adora runs soothing fingers over her forearm.

She feels a powerful need to comfort her, immediately. To pull her into a hug and cuddle her until she purrs, telling her that she’s okay, that she doesn’t hate her. Not even a little bit. That she loves her. But that’s not how these things go - Catra still needs some time to adjust back to how she really feels, and hasty cuddling from a person who just featured in her nightmare would just make her uneasy, to say the least. Adora pushes down her own hurt at this. Not hurt caused by Catra, but by this stupid, stupid situation. And she waits, because this is what Catra needs.

“Just a dream. You’re alright.”

Catra retracts her claws and Adora laces her fingers with hers. She dips her head to her shoulder, placing a soft kiss on its tip, and watches her.

Catra nods slightly, her eyes still tightly shut. But she begins to relax, her clenched muscles uncoiling, her breathing evening out. Adora soothingly runs her free hand over the length of her arm.

“When will this go away,” Catra croaks out, turning just a little towards her.

They both know it may never do. But Adora is too preoccupied to think about that because of how disturbingly vulnerable Catra looked just now. Her resolve shutters – her kitty is hurting.

She plants a soft kiss on Catra’s forehead, snakes a hand around her waist, edges closer to her. Catra leans into it, receptive. That’s all incentive Adora needs, she pulls her to herself, spoons around her as close as possible with Catra still on her back.

“Hey Catra,” she says softly.

“Hey Adora…”

Catra opens her eyes and her pupils dilate. Adora is holding her gaze, her loose hair spilling around her like a curtain.

Adora smiles, assured by what she’s seeing and by a small smile that Catra gives back to her. She slowly reaches for her ear and gives it gentle scratches, and the way Catra’s whole body melts just makes her own heart swell several times.

This is good. Adora shifts lower and lays down with her head on Catra’s chest, right in the spot she likes. She feels her tense a little but it goes right away, and Catra’s hand goes up, absentmindedly running fingers through the blond threads.

“You do love me, right?” Catra says.

“Right,” Adora sighs contently.

She feels Catra snort a little, a shaky but good sound. The soft threading resumes, this time with the tips of claws softly brushing the strands apart.

The sensation sends goose bumps prickling down Adora’s skin. She presses her nose to the soft swell of Catra’s breast. And she doesn’t really know why, it’s just something that occurs to her – she purrs. Or at least tries to. Rather badly.

“Whaaaa?…”

She looks up and sees Catra gazing back at her in absolute incredulousness.

“Did you just… purr?” A shocked amusement starts to spread on Catra’s face.

“Well, you always do it when you feel good, so I thought I’d give it a try…” Adora smiles back sheepishly.

“Aww,” Catra says without her usual teasing, blinking rapidly for some reason she won’t admit.

Adora grins her dorky grin. “Did you just… really say aww?”

“Shut up.”

“That was so cute…”

“Don’t ruin it, dummy.”

Adora chuckles. She settles back against her, resting her head under Catra’s chin and molding her body to hers.

“I do feel good you know.”

“I know.” Catra tightens her arms around her and kisses the top of her head. 

She starts purring, pausing just enough to say, “And I love you too.”


End file.
